What advice would you give a college student who has no idea what career she wants?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She should take some math and the hardest statistics classes - sociology can be very quantitative, and she should make sure she has good grades.

This is good advice. I was a government and psychology liberal arts major - the statistics focus of my degree is what paid the bills to start with (the liberal arts education is what helped me get out of the entry level)

[Anonymous]

ADVICE TO STUDENT: Develop quantitative skills, become fluent in another language, use internships and summer jobs to explore career interests. Good written and oral communications skills are always useful, so hone those (through courses and extracurriculars). Basically, in non-votech fields, a college education isn’t expected to give you substantive knowledge relevant to specific jobs. It represents an opportunity for you develop a skillset that enables you to perform well in a variety of jobs.

ADVICE TO PARENT: Your kid is more likely to develop these kinds of skills if she majors in something that she finds really interesting. Most of what is taught in college has little or no direct relevance to jobs. You will be most helpful (and more likely to be listened to) if you encourage her to sort out what she likes about her studies and where IRL she can work that values and/or feeds her interests. You might remind her to check out what career services has to offer, to consider study abroad, or make use of resources or opportunities her school offers that she hasn’t tapped into. But don’t treat choice of major as determinative of future career. It just isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ADVICE TO STUDENT: Develop quantitative skills, become fluent in another language, use internships and summer jobs to explore career interests. Good written and oral communications skills are always useful, so hone those (through courses and extracurriculars). Basically, in non-votech fields, a college education isn’t expected to give you substantive knowledge relevant to specific jobs. It represents an opportunity for you develop a skillset that enables you to perform well in a variety of jobs.

ADVICE TO PARENT: Your kid is more likely to develop these kinds of skills if she majors in something that she finds really interesting. Most of what is taught in college has little or no direct relevance to jobs. You will be most helpful (and more likely to be listened to) if you encourage her to sort out what she likes about her studies and where IRL she can work that values and/or feeds her interests. You might remind her to check out what career services has to offer, to consider study abroad, or make use of resources or opportunities her school offers that she hasn’t tapped into. But don’t treat choice of major as determinative of future career. It just isn’t.

excellent advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She should take some math and the hardest statistics classes - sociology can be very quantitative, and she should make sure she has good grades.

This is good advice. I was a government and psychology liberal arts major - the statistics focus of my degree is what paid the bills to start with (the liberal arts education is what helped me get out of the entry level)

And this is excellent followup. Describes a ton of people... The stats competency gets them that first job, and then the fact that they can write and think well gets them the next one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good grief. Let he major in. Sociology. Encourage her to seek internships to wzplore possible careers.

Agree with the internship recommendation. The key to developing a career is figuring out what kinds of real jobs you're interested in, finding out what you need for those real jobs, and networking, networking, networking. Back in the day I read What Color is Your Parachute where I learned about informational interviewing. Informational interviewing involves asking someone in a field you're interested in about their work and what you would need to do if you wanted to do that kind of work. And then you stay in touch with that person while you're job searching. I changed careers twice and each time I got a job through informational interviewing that I never would have gotten if I had just sent in an application.

If your kid is articulate and pleasant, that really helps. People generally want to help young people find work. But the young people have to be willing to make the calls, do the interviews, send the thank you emails, and update their LinkedIn pages. It won't fall into her lap.

Seriously, I was a theology major and it worked for me. I'm a researcher now so I did a PhD later. But how do you think I figured out my next steps - by asking for help and information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She should take some math and the hardest statistics classes - sociology can be very quantitative, and she should make sure she has good grades.

This. If she knows a lot of stats, she'll do fine employment wise.

What entry level job would she get with a sociology major and statistics courses?

Junior Research analyst at my company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg tons of kids don’t know what they want to major in or what they want to do for the rest of their lives when they are 19 or 20. Let her major in whatever she finds interesting and find internships she enjoys. Maybe a study abroad experience will inspire her as well. I would encourage her to find something she is passionate about and figure out how to make it her life’s work.

My parents wanted me to study business but in the end encouraged me to study what I liked. I was a liberal arts major and got a job related to my major, worked for three years, but decided that the work I had done in my earlier internships actually interested me more so I went back to grad school, then worked in the other field for ten years. Now I do something completely different than either of the first two things!

Just let her get a degree with a good gpa, some good experience through clubs and activities, internships, volunteering, whatever, and then figure it out. At some point it will click.

Yes exactly. What's important is figuring out what you want to do and then figuring out how you are going to do it. Not getting just the right major.

[Anonymous]

OP I was a history/psych major.

I tried teaching for a while but wasn’t suited to it.

Now I’m a SAHM and haven’t worked in over ten years (at least I was lucky to marry well).

Advise your daughter to major in economics or business if she wants a job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about marketing with a sociology minor.

Is marketing really an employable degree? What would a typical entry level position be for a marketing major?

Managing a brand’s social media

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg tons of kids don’t know what they want to major in or what they want to do for the rest of their lives when they are 19 or 20. Let her major in whatever she finds interesting and find internships she enjoys. Maybe a study abroad experience will inspire her as well. I would encourage her to find something she is passionate about and figure out how to make it her life’s work.

My parents wanted me to study business but in the end encouraged me to study what I liked. I was a liberal arts major and got a job related to my major, worked for three years, but decided that the work I had done in my earlier internships actually interested me more so I went back to grad school, then worked in the other field for ten years. Now I do something completely different than either of the first two things!

Just let her get a degree with a good gpa, some good experience through clubs and activities, internships, volunteering, whatever, and then figure it out. At some point it will click.

Yes exactly. What's important is figuring out what you want to do and then figuring out how you are going to do it. Not getting just the right major.

Yes, of course, but what happens if you don't figure out what you want to do? That's the question, she's not going to drop out of college while figuring it out. She needs to pick something.

[Anonymous]

I’m currently working from STBX in Towson. My child has been outpatient for the last 4 weeks at the hospital. I need to drive him to and from every day.

Look at how many posts on here are seeking WFH positions. Tell her to look at Accounting, IT, or Data Analystics. If there’s WiFi, she can work.

My flexibility to work where ever I need to has made our entire family life manageable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She should take some math and the hardest statistics classes - sociology can be very quantitative, and she should make sure she has good grades.

This is good advice. I was a government and psychology liberal arts major - the statistics focus of my degree is what paid the bills to start with (the liberal arts education is what helped me get out of the entry level)

Definitely this. I am a socials science researcher. There is a TON of work for quantitative data analysis these days. Make sure she knows SPSS, SASS or STATA and get her attached to a professor's research project for practical experience and she'll be able to find a job out of school.